Cardiff Airport has retained the highest possible rating for accessibility in the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s latest annual assessment, marking the second year running it has achieved the top classification.
The airport was rated “Very Good” alongside 18 others among the 28 UK airports assessed by the CAA for 2025/26 — a group that also includes Bristol, Edinburgh, London Gatwick, Manchester and Newcastle. The report measures how well airports support passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility, looking at waiting times for assistance, passenger satisfaction, the accuracy of performance data, and how well airports engage with disability organisations.
Cardiff was also one of just five UK airports — alongside Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow Prestwick and Liverpool — to receive an in-depth “deep dive” accessibility review this year, with CAA inspectors observing assistance services in operation and reviewing facilities, processes and staff training on the ground.
The rating comes at a particularly busy time for the airport, which recently passed one million passengers in a twelve-month period and was named the UK’s second fastest-growing airport. The CAA’s wider report found that demand for assistance across UK airports is rising faster than overall passenger numbers, with a record 5.9 million people using assistance services nationally in 2025.
For drivers doing airport transfer work, a “Very Good” rating is a useful thing to know about a route — smoother, better-supported assistance for passengers with reduced mobility at the airport end often means a more predictable pickup and drop-off experience too.
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